Guiding You To A More Magical Life

My Magical Journey

People who knew me at University would be (and are) very surprised when they find out what I do these days. I guess reading tarot and running workshops on magic would be weird enough anyway, but when you add in the fact that when they knew me I was studying law, well…

I thought I’d share a bit of my journey with you, as it may help to explain why I believe in magic. And no, there are no Castaneda-esque meetings with strange people or astral journeys involved, at least not directly 😀

There are several threads that wind in among each other, over time.

Mid-Seventies and Eighties

As a child, I was taught to use a pendulum and read coffee grounds. I attended a talk by Osho, and spent time at the Esalen Institute, as well as going to Skyros Holistic Holidays a dozen times, as my mother taught there.

1992 – Yoga

I started practising yoga while at Uni, and over a decade later trained as a yoga teacher. One thing I learned from this was the way that physical movement could affect my state of mind. Another thing was about pranayama: yogic breathing practices, which also affect state of mind. Thirdly, meditation was a set part of the yoga teacher training curriculum, something we had to practice, as well as learning to teach it to others.

Then there was the theory and history of yoga and yogis of old, as well as some truly gruesome videos of yogis in modern day India piercing their own penises with needles and carrying rocks tied on a string on those needles, but let’s not go there!

1994 – Social Anthropology

While working as an office administrator, I was reading a lot of books on different cultures. That led me to go back to University, studying a Masters in Social Anthropology. We studied witchcraft and shamanism from around the world, as well as religious practices and beliefs. This showed me that a magical approach to life is a human universal.

Anthropological studies were done from a Western scientific perspective – how did these things work, why did people believe in them, what role did these practices play in people’s lives? Some authors just saw these as cultural structures that hold societies together, others looked deeper, to healing and transformation, and the power of the human mind.

2001 – Tarot and Magic

I became close friends with a couple of my fellow yoga teacher trainers. These women were into tarot, angel cards, the Goddess and magic. Together, we formed a mini-coven. We would go out to the countryside at the weekends, connect with nature, meditate, and cast spells together.

We read cards for each other, as a group practice, each chiming in with thoughts and feelings. We meditated on cards that came up in our readings, and incorporated them into our spells: this is my situation, how can I change it? This is my desire, how can I reach it?

2006 – Psychotherapy and Hypnotherapy

It might seem strange, but it was tarot and magic that led me to study psychotherapy, rather than the other way around. I wanted to help people transform their lives, and I saw psychotherapy as offering that space for people who had something they wanted to change.

And it was so much more ‘normal’ than offering them a tarot reading. Though I still did that, too.

Anyway, I took a one year Foundation in Psychotherapy and Counselling, starting in 2006. In 2007, I studyed hypnobirthing, in the run up to the birth of my first son. Then, from 2010-2012, I completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Psychotherapy and Counselling. In 2013 I did more hypnotherapy training, broadening my perspective beyond its use in childbirth.

However, I remain devoted to offering people something beyond just a psychological approach, something that touches their soul as well as changing their life for the better.

My View of Magic

A combination of the wisdom of millenia (yoga), an understanding of human nature across cultures and history (anthropology), a more modern scientific/rationalist perspective (anthropology and psychotherapy), as well as personal experience (childhood, tarot and magic) have led me to where I am today.

Magic, for me, is a tool for improving your life. As Dion Fortune defined it: “Magick is the art of changing consciousness at will.” That might not sound like much, and yet changing the way we think changes the way we feel, talk and act. And that ripples out into our life and the world in many ways. Leaving aside whether there is something more to magic than this psychological understanding, a topic for another day, I can confidently say that magic will work for anyone, whether you believe in it or not!

If you’d like to explore this subject further, why not come along to the Tarot Magic webinar I’m running on 23rd May at 4pm BST

What a beautiful website you have created Chloe. So professional en yet such a cozy personal corner on the big web. “Magic works if you believe it or not”:I like that 😀 Yesterday evening I’ve put a few cards on my altar just like you’ve showed here in your post. Isn’t that a fun coincidence?

Yes, an interesting journey. Anthropology and Sociology are both interesting. I tend to use a rationalist perspective too; it’s a balance. I’ve always used intuition and my own take on things but there is the rational mind and learning and exploring. I like the idea of integration – humans are all these things so why not use the whole experience with cards? No reason, except it wasn’t a popular stance for years.

You are an integrated person Chloe, which is what makes me respect your work.

Thank you, JJ. Yes, the psychotherapy training I did was actually called Integrative 😀 And I loved studying Anthropology – not exactly focused or practical for getting a job, but it was sooo interesting!

Congratulations on the new website and design! Looks great…really calming, and I love how you’ve used one of your card images. Nice work!

And thank you for sharing your story – it’s so interesting to find out how people arrive here in the tarot community. I love your take on magic, and the Dion Fortune quote you used: “Magick is the art of changing consciousness at will.” That might not sound like much, and yet changing the way we think changes the way we feel, talk and act. I couldn’t agree more.

Thanks, Beth. In the end I went with the company I already used, rather than trying to figure it all out myself, and I like how it turned out. It’s weird to now have a WP blog – at least I won’t fight it if TABI moves theirs over 😀
Yes, I think there’s a bit more to magic than that, but also don’t underestimate the importance of changing our own perspective and responses.

So glad to hear you like the aesthetic, Steve. I do like things to look nice 🙂

And yes, thought and intention are the crux of it all, for me. Someone asked me recently if it was okay to adjust a spell, and for me that’s a huge “Yes!” – it has to be meaningful to you, otherwise the fanciest spell in the world won’t work 🙂

Carla

Chloë, I love that you shared your journey in such an interesting, holistic and understandable way. How cool! And very authentic–which is so important. I still struggle with this. But I’m slowly improving. 🙂 Much Love, MM